title: Ergonomic analyses within the French transport and logistics sector: first steps towards a new "act elsewhere" prevention approach.
abstract: Statistics from the French Employee National Health Insurance Fund indicate high accident levels in the transport sector. This study represents initial thinking on a new approach to transport sector prevention based on the assumption that a work situation could be improved by acting on another interconnected work situation. Ergonomic analysis of two connected work situations, involving the road haulage drivers and cross-docking platform employees, was performed to test this assumption. Our results show that drivers are exposed to a number of identified risks, but their multiple tasks raise the question of activity intensification. The conditions, under which the drivers will perform their work and take to the road, are partly determined by the quality and organisation of the platform with which they interact. We make a number of recommendations (e.g. changing handling equipment, re-appraising certain jobs) to improve platform organisation and employee working conditions with the aim of also improving driver conditions. These initial steps in this prevention approach appear promising, but more detailed investigation is required.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, Working Life Department, Preventive Ergonomics and Psychology Laboratory, 1 rue du morvan, CS60027, 54519 Vandoeuvre Cedex, France. Electronic address: lien.wioland@inrs.fr.
authors.forename: Liên
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wioland
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload
keywords: Health and safety; Interview; Loading–unloading; Networked companies; Observation; Road haulage driver